The Thief of Bagdad

Ratings & Reviews

Ratings & Reviews

Fairbanks at the height of his power. While it has crude effects (which is normal for a silent movie) it is impressive how much heart and effort has gone into doing a epic fantasy. The use of costumes, extras and sets are impressive. It uses some time to get to the quest-aspect of the film which is the fun and best part of the film as it takes long time to build up the characters and situation but it is worth a look.

Justice League cost 300m and is filmed in CGI created warehouses, then there are the miraculous vistas built here for single, short scenes. When it comes to action movies maybe set designers are the true auteurs.

I admit the cinematography is surprisingly captivating (how often can you say "What an exciting silent film!"?) but to me, watching Fairbanks is the real treat. His hands alone are giving their own wicked performance, telling the viewer about the naughtier elements in the story that were thought to have been edited out of this family-oriented film.

A masterpiece of spectacle. The gargantuan sets, the optical effects, and some very impressive blocking with a roaming camera are a testament to how far the art form had come by this point—an inertia that would falter with the advent of sound. The fantastical illusions and overall story momentum are still able to keep me spellbound for 2.5 hours in a time where much faster, modern films struggle to do the same.

I might just regret to name this movie as silent, for me camera conscious acting, visionary effects, rich and wide decor/framing and most notably magical film orchestra starring the oboet talks deeper and more.. These all created a favourable theme for love though Julanne Jonston and her eyes makes it real for me!

Cinematography by Arthur Edeson. "Desire" list: although the mustache is not exactly of an imperishable style his revelry and bouncy energy is actually of the most perennial that can be desired and, accordingly, Douglas Fairbanks will be much more credible as desirable object than Valentino, his rival at the time , much more stuck to the contingencies of the period and therefore less vital in our times.

1924 epic telling (at least in length) of 'The Thief of Bagdad' is still a rip roaring adventure even some almost 90 years later. Fairbank's mugging gets a little ripe from time to time but film consistently remains interesting despite its 155 minute runtime. Some of the effects still look great with rich sets and art deco for the time period.

Designed to show off special effects and Douglas Fairbanks. The effects are surprisingly effective for the time. The Fairbanks surprisingly camera conscious and broad - even for the time. It's easy to see who's vanity project this is. The running time may have delivered good value for filmgoers of the time but ought to have been trimmed by about half an hour for better storytelling.